Evidence-Based Practice In Adult Dysphagia Management

Course overview

This course provides an advanced tutorial about evidence-based practice for SLPs working with adult dysphagia. Primary goals of this course include: present the evidence for frequently prescribed swallowing rehabilitation techniques, examine common swallowing pathophysiologies that contribute to aspiration and how they are measured, and discuss levels of research evidence relative to their contribution to the current state of dysphagia rehabilitation. Participants will learn to incorporate swallowing physiology into diagnosis and management of dysphagic patients. Participants will also learn how evidence-based practice in dysphagia is limited, and how to interpret and critique the scientific literature given these limitations. This is critical to ensure that the clinical tools used to impact swallowing ability are based on physiology. Case studies are used to discuss the evidence behind widely-used dysphagia interventions, including: chin tuck, effortful swallow, Mendelsohn maneuver, and Shaker exercise. This course will provide a roadmap for clinical decision making and a framework for evaluating any swallowing treatment used in therapy.